The Importance Of Reading

I never understood the point of reading. My parents first introduced my siblings and I to its world at the early age of two. We were familiarized with letters, taught to link sound the visual and formed words with a stuttering start. We became accustomed to the quiet of Tuesday nights when my father would sit huddled on the sofa – my mother curled up in bed – his long nose buried in a novel, a black curtain cascading from her head to the pages, morphing into one with their respective books. As the night drew close the browns of their eyes would light up, while my mother’s red lips would quiver with excitement and my father would flash a lopsided smile. “Reading is an adventure,” they’d

We all know many kids who do not like to read from elementary to college. In the early school years, there was always an instructor or, a parent to always guiding us. Or they would say it’s time for silent reading or even force us to read. This always worked for the best because kids to today love to tell stories to friends and families. Malcolm X went to the Norfolk colony’s prison, library everyday where he would stay for at an hour. He felt like he was in heaven just from seeing all the different books. He would be concentrating so hard on the books, which he would stay up past the normal time to go to sleep. Sometimes when it would be lights out he would try to read in the dark just because the book was just starting to get interesting.

Through the course, I learned that there are many benefits of reading books to children. Children would improve their communicative skills by talking about their favorite part of the story. Children would respect each other by taking turns. They would improve their cognitive skills by predicting the events of a story. Moreover, reading books would expand children’s vocabularies by introducing new words.

Growing up I was a very avid reader. I remember the first books I successfully read by myself. They were a series directed towards preschoolers called, “Where’s Spot?” written by Eric Hill. There are over twenty books in the Spot series and I’m damn sure I read every single one of them. I would come home ever day after preschool and kindergarten and read the Spot books aloud as I was walking around the house. If you can’t already tell, I was a very self-absorbed child. And although the books are extremely simple, with about one word on each page, and any human being older than ten can probably tell you the exact plot simply based off of the title, I always prided myself in being able to read them. However, soon after I found reading to be a lot less rewarding because as most self-centered children I sought recognition for all my actions, as a dog seeks a treat for being able to do a trick. It became something I was expected to be able to do instead of something I was special for doing.

Reading is an important part of today’s society. Being able to read and write defines populaces as educated, successful and intelligent, since the world revolves around written language. Being literate is a vital tool of survival in today’s civilization. Reading is not only important for basic day-to-day functions, but also helps to form a stronger self-disciple, longer attention span and better memory retention. From the moment a child is born, caregivers begin reading to their child.

Do you remember the first book you learned to read? Well, I do and it shaped me into the reader I am today. During my early years in elementary school, I began to learn about what reading was and how to read books. I always remember my kindergarten teacher reading “Love you forever” before I would go to nap time everyday. I eventually learned to read my favorite childhood book on my own. However, this was a problem when I didn't want to branch out and read books to better my reading skills. Reading and writing are such and important aspect in our lives that get abused every day. It may sound silly, but as a young child I came in contact with books that impacted me, changed me, and shaped me into the reader and writer I am today.

We all know reading is boring, time consuming, and compulsory. All though, most kids would agree with that statement, some may disagree. Some can say that if one does not read they can lose knowledge and become less smart. If you don't read there can be consequences for stopping. Reading is valuable because it gives readers the power to escape, to maximize their potential, and to strengthen their mind.

When I was little, I would enjoy reading books such as, Henry and Mudge, and also Captain Underpants. These were some books that I was able to understand because of them being less rigorous. As a grade school student, I was never the strongest reader. It was hard for me to understand and comprehend the material I was learning. In class, we would read short chapter books together as a class and take brief quizzes on the chapter then after. I believe the turning point to becoming a substantial reader happened when my family and I moved. I attended a different school in a different school district going entering fourth grade. Switching schools I think has benefitted me, and I think it was good I was still little because I felt as if the new school district I was in, District 303 in Illinois, give students more assistance and one-on-one to help us become stronger readers. When my class would start reading in class, I would step out of class and meet a

Reading can guide you to creativity and learning. As Dr. Seuss, one of the best children book authors, states in his quote “The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you'll go.”(I Can Read With My Eyes Shut, Dr. Seuss,). In my opinion Dr. Seuss is correct. The more that you read the more that you learn and the more places you can journey too. Reading can take you out of this world to alternative places or it can fill you with information. Reading is important since text surrounds the world.

My teacher, classmates, and I would read the Magic Tree House series aloud in class. That series definitely influenced my enthusiasm towards reading at a young age because it made me believe that if I read a book, I would become a character. Surprisingly, my arm never became tired after constantly raising my hand all day to volunteer to read out loud. I was eager to present my reading skills to the entire class. I began reading more difficult books as I went into the fourth grade. The students at Brookland were required to take Accelerated Reader (AR) tests over the books we read. We had to reach an AR goal each nine weeks of school. Which meant we had to read books, take tests over them, and pass them in order to get the points. If you met your AR goal, you were able to go on a fun field trip at the end of the nine weeks. The trips were always to the movies or the water park, so I worked very hard to reach my AR

Once first grade came around I had officially found my one favorite teachers. I was so enthused about the idea of having two teachers to learn from, one teacher taught math and science, while the other teacher taught English and social studies. My English teacher had a way a drawing our short attention spans in quickly and could keep up engaged for the entire timeframe of English. When it came to reading books, myself I had issues and reading was not a good friend of mine at this point. I had troubles comprehending what I was reading much of the time, and I was reading at a

I found that especially at that age I enjoyed reading stories about girls my age, girls who were struggling with struggles I was having. Not only did reading these stories allow learning to take place, it opened my eyes to ideas on how to solve problems that I may not have been aware before. As a teacher helping my students find the type of books that interest them a huge part of making reading, writing, and all literacy fun and something they look forward

Learning to read is a story of its own. Looking back, I have fond memories of reading all through school. Whether it was picture books or chapter books, it was something I thoroughly enjoyed. Although there has been both good and bad ties associated with it. In kindergarten we were each given a sixth grader to be our reading buddy. Sixth graders were intended to: help read to us, correct our pronunciation on words, and push us towards reading all on our own. Prior to being assigned this buddy, I had already been reading with my grandmother; also I had been going to story time at the library since I was younger. However, this helped change my perspective on reading, because I had someone who I wanted to be like. Given that I was a little girl who was handed someone to help me read, I wanted to be able to do it just like them. We read every popularly known to a kindergartner book there was at the time. Including, absolutely every Golden Book, and Dr. Seus known to mankind.

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes and it is also an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader.

From an early age I loved to read. At just two years old I would beg my mother to enroll me into school. I watched as my older sister meticulously picked out her outfit each night in preparation for the next school day. At such a young age I somehow knew that this thing called “school” was the answer to something spectacular. My home was chaotic and reading became an escape and helped distract me from the unpleasant family dynamic.